How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 63

achieves its aim of preventing hire by the sort of groups that the owner knows from
experience are likely to cause damage, problems with neighbours, etc.
The Labour Government’s Equality Office however proposed in 2009 to abolish the
freedom of owners to “discriminate” in this way.
These type of "rules" - there are of course may other examples - are simply a result of
owners or service providers exercising their freedom to limit their own service in
certain ways. Common sense recognises this and sees an appropriate balance of
freedoms and no real "harm" (to use the word in the consultation document) done in
such cases - indeed, vastly more harm prevented. In our experience, most people
trying to book (say) a group of ten 19-year men into a holiday home for a stag weekend
are not the slightest bit surprised that many owners do not want such a group, and of
course know only too well why! The Government did not, calling it a “stereotypical
assumption”.
We can see no public benefit in removing the freedom of property owners and service
providers in this way, and believe that the proposed legislation is not based on
evidence or on prevention of “harm” (the Government’s word), but purely on the
ideology of "equality". Thus the consultation document even sees a simple rule
imposed by car hire companies (because of insurance) limiting car hire to under to
under 75 year olds as an attack on equality and enforcing negative stereotypes.
The Labour Government seemed to accept the industry’s argument to provide an
exemption for age-related holidays (eg., Saga and Club 18-30) but they do not accept the
argument that accommodation providers should be able to apply age restrictions on the
use of our property.
The consultation document refered dismissively to the concerns the industry has raised
as “anecdotal evidence ... compounded by stereotypical assumptions”.
This whole area may be up for some changes – at least in emphasis, priority and
appetite for enforcement – after the May 2010 change of Government. We can only
watch and wait…
Further information: www.equalities.gov.uk
WiFi – Internet Access for Guests
Again, this strays outside the book’s remit, but the Digital Economy Bill seems set to
make changes which would affect B&Bs and guest houses. As part of trying to counter
illegal file-sharing and copyright theft, there are proposals that Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) should be made responsible for such offences being committed by
users of their connections. Again, the law of unintended consequences kicks in: “ISPs”
also includes B&Bs offering WiFi connections to guests (whether free or paid for). This
is another lobbying priority in Summer 2010 for the Bed & Breakfast Association and
the Tourism Alliance – the aim would be to convince Parliament to either exclude small